Economic downturn affects airline, travel business in Kerala

Kozhikode: News agency PTI has reported that Kerala’s economy, which depends heavily on Gulf money, has suffered a heavy blow as the economic meltdown has affected airlines and travel agencies leading to a sharp decline in booking of passengers to the Gulf. The impact of the global meltdown has had its effect in these sectors, with many travel agencies and tour operators struggling to survive and planning to cut down staff size. “The passengers' booking is gradually going down with Dubai stopping fresh recruitments and sending back a lot of workers,” Ahamed, Managing Director, Rolex Tours and Travels told PTI. The agency was able to hold on only due to the continuing passenger traffic to Saudi Arabia, where the government had initiated some new projects, informed Ahamed. “The recession has already affected our sector very badly and if the same trend continues, we will have to resort to measures like cutting down the staff strength,” said Ahamed.
Echoing similar sentiments, Chinson V S Panakkal, Director, Karipur International Airport told PTI that revenue of airlines had nosedived in the last few months, affecting the airport business. “From a normal 50:50 arrival-departure passenger rush, the ratio has alarmingly dipped to 70:30 which does not augur well for the future. The number of aircraft departing from Karipur has also come down from 420 to 350 a week,” he said. He hoped the airport could regain some lost ground as Jet Airways plans to renew its flight to Mumbai and Kingfisher Airlines is to start services to Bangalore. Other sources informed that there has been a sharp dip in passengers going to the Gulf and virtually no flow of job seekers to Dubai now. Both small and big players in the field are struggling, even though the smaller groups are the worst hit as they are dependent on service works of recruiting companies.
The recent decision of several airlines to cut agency commissions has also worsened the situation, sources at Akbar Travels told PTI.
16/03/09 TravelBizMonitor

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Mar 2009